When life gives you lemons

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” This may be a simplistic and even Pollyannaish way of looking at hardships. But the fact , I think, is that God may have inspired that saying because of all of the wonderful, miraculous things that he does.

Making lemonade out of the lemons we call our lives is what God does best. No matter how badly we mess things up, or try to, in the end, God can turn our hardships into something positive.

We see it time and again in scripture. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and taken to Egypt. Did God really want that to happen? I doubt it. But, God used that chain of events to save his people from starvation, to bring them into Egypt, and ultimately, to claim them as his own. Godís will would not be thwarted.

In the Gospel of Luke (13:31-35), we see Jesus being pretty clear that he has a plan, and no one is going to derail it. Herod is turning up the heat on Jesus, and Jesus tells him, in no uncertain terms, that he will finish his ministry on his own terms. God gave him a job to do, and he intends to do it.

Lent is a great time to reflect on Godís will for us in our lives. How do we try to thwart Godís plans for us? How has God pursued us to make his plans come to fruition? What is God’s plan for our lives?